Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir ): On 28 May 2026, DWP
published statistics about two exercises which reviewed historic
PIP claims for people affected by the MM Supreme Court judgment
or the LB Upper Tribunal decision.
MM judgment
The MM judgment was handed down in July 2019 and related to Daily
Living activity 9 of the PIP assessment. It found that prompting
should be considered social support when it is provided by a
person trained or otherwise experienced in assisting people to
engage in social situations. It also found that DWP should take
account of social support given before and after a social
situation, not just at the time of the interaction itself,
depending on the needs of the claimant.
DWP updated the guidance for new claims from 17 September 2020 to
reflect the judgment.
On 20 September 2021, DWP launched an exercise to review historic
claims from 6 April 2016 to 16 September 2020 that may have been
affected by the MM judgment. DWP looked at cases where people
with a psychiatric condition had previously been assessed as
needing prompting and cases not previously awarded points for
Daily Living activity 9 because of the timing of any support. A
progress update on this exercise was previously published at:
PIP administrative exercise for
MM: progress report to 31 August 2023 - GOV.UK(opens in a new
tab).
This exercise concluded on 17 November. The release sets out
management information related to the exercise. DWP reviewed
350,000 cases and made 48,000 payments in arrears, totalling £270
million.
LB Upper Tribunal decision
The LB Upper Tribunal decision was handed down in November 2016
and related to Daily Living activity 3 of the PIP assessment. It
changed how managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
should be interpreted. The Upper Tribunal found that a
combination of time spent supervising, prompting and assisting
with medication and monitoring a health condition must be
considered as therapy. The Tribunal also made comments on when
paying attention to the timing and nature of food and drink
constitutes diet as therapy.
DWP updated guidance for new claims from 17 June 2019 to reflect
the decision.
On 15 October 2019, the Department launched an exercise to review
historic claims made between 28 November 2016 and 16 June 2019
that may have been affected by the LB decision. DWP looked at
cases of people with diabetes and another condition, such as a
learning disability or severe visual impairment.
The exercise concluded on 31 January 2024. The release sets out
management information related to the exercise. DWP reviewed
44,000 cases and made fewer than 100 payments in arrears,
totalling £188,000.
All reviews have been carried out by a Case Manager within the
Department and no one should have seen their PIP reduced because
of these exercises.
Although DWP has completed both exercises, claimants can still
ask the Department to conduct a review of their case if they
think they are affected.
